Project K, Fort Knox, Helios and more Microsoft codenames from TechEd

Codenames are commonly used by Microsoft, and other firms, when projects are in development stages. It could be that the final name has yet to be decided on, or it might be to try to keep things secret for as long as possible. This week sees TechNet taking place in Houston, Texas for developers and IT professionals, and Mary Jo Foley has rounded up all of the codenames that are being bandied around at this year’s event.

The impressive-sounding Fort Knox is a new encryption option for Office 365 business users, which is expected to launch in the next couple of months. Brooklyn — Microsoft does like to use place names as codenames — is an SME-oriented networking technology that will become Azure Virtual Network, and is complemented by Golden Gate (or ExpressRoute as it will be known) for enterprise users. Networks. Bridges. You see?

The intriguingly named Project K is the next addition to the ASP.NET family, while the related Helios which enables ASP.NET applications to make use of IIS Web server. Foley also says that she has heard references made to Adams (the next version of Visual Studio) and Mohoro (Azure RemoteApp).

There are undoubtedly plenty of other codename in use at Microsoft, but these are the ones on people’s lips at this year’s TechEd. Are there any codenames from the past that you look on with fondness? Memphis? Nashville?